I don’t know if it’s because a Master of the Mage Tower ‘changed allegiance’, but Ellie Miller has been receiving a lot of invitation cards these past few days.
“Why weren’t they this friendly with me before?”
At the banquet long table, Ellie Miller counted the invitation cards in her hand, complaining to Joanna without words.
“Because you accepted a Master of the Mage Tower as your apprentice!” Joanna exclaimed excitedly.
“You have no idea, even Annie Sherman is now your…
um, fan?
Is that how you say it?”
Ellie Miller fretted, “But this overwhelming social engagement will slow down my alchemy progress.”
While using a gemstone-embedded comb to manage her golden hair, Joanna suggested, “How about hosting a tea party?”
One net to catch them all?
That’s a good idea.
“Alright!
It’s up to you.
As for how to arrange the tea party, you can discuss it with the housekeeper, Lady Catherine.”
The castle’s housekeeper, Lady Catherine, was someone who didn’t get along with her in her predecessor’s memory.
After crossing over, Ellie Miller proactively avoided her.
Any issues were communicated with the kind and elegant male butler, Conrad.
Even now, she wasn’t too fond of interacting with Lady Catherine.
But her professional skills were beyond words.
In the afternoon, when Ellie Miller came out of the [Alchemy House], she was notified that the tea party was ready, and the guests had already arrived.
As the lady of the castle, Ellie Miller being fashionably late was considered a noble hospitality etiquette.
But when she appeared in front of the knights’ wives, clad in an elegant olive-green long dress and with a mane of golden hair draped over her shoulders…
[My goodness!!
I thought an elf had barged into the castle!!
Ahh!!]
[The Duchess is so beautiful, when can I become a beauty like her?]
[I was wrong before to believe such outrageous rumors, only such a wise and beautiful lady can be worthy of our Duke!]
Ellie Miller: “…” No, no, no, you’ve misunderstood, the original owner was indeed a crazy stalker.
She sat down with a complex expression.
Then her attention was drawn to a deep red ‘bubble’.
[Ah, go to hell!!
You bitch!]
Ellie Miller slightly frowned, looking at the person with this “bubble” over their head.
The woman, smiling slightly with an average appearance, had a style that Ellie felt somewhat familiar with.
Upon noticing Ellie’s gaze, this knight’s wife immediately had sparkling starry eyes, showing a worshipful look back at Ellie.
And the blood-red bubble above her turned into: [What are you looking at, you damn wench?!]
Ellie Miller casually looked away, “Good afternoon, everyone.”
The room was filled with chitchat and polite exchanges, and after a few rounds of exhausting social pleasantries, someone couldn’t hold it anymore.
“Lady, can you tell us about alchemy?
What kind of magical magic is it?”
“Foolish Cindy!
It’s not magic, it’s alchemy!
Joanna already told us!”
Ellie Miller recalled the professional reputation of that day.
So, she enthusiastically started talking about the basics of alchemy—herbalism.
When she finished talking about “Fire Bell”, 50% of the wives started nodding off.
Looking just like you after staying up all night and attending a lecture the next morning in college.
Ellie Miller fell silent.
Ellie Miller began to reflect, thinking it must be her presentation style that was off.
Therefore, she enthusiastically began describing the very interesting magical plants, like the “Screaming Mushroom”.
After finishing, 88% of the wives had fallen asleep.
The way they slept just like the Sleeping Beauties in fairy tales.
So much so that Ellie Miller had to put down the teacup in her hand and make some noise to ‘politely’ wake them up.
Then these wives, like startled sparrows, woke up and after a brief confusion, someone led a round of applause, followed by thunderous clapping in the room.
Ellie Miller: “…”
The remaining wives who struggled to stay awake: “…”
It was rather awkward.
In short, after talking about two magical plants, apart from a group of sleeping wives, Ellie Miller didn’t gain a single thing and gave up on this challenge.
If that’s the case, why not chat about something everyone is interested in, like—
“So, with the knights off to war, what do you do for entertainment?”
As soon as this was mentioned, everyone perked up.
Each vied to speak.
“I love going to the theater in Centralis to watch operas~”
“Ahhh!
I know!
I know!
That new male actor is so handsome~!”
“I’m crazy about his performance as the prince!
Ahhh!
If only Lance could be so romantic with me!
I could die happy right now!”
“Eh?
Isn’t the Knight Lance also so…
you know, ‘knightly’?”
Ellie Miller, thoroughly engrossed in gossip, paused, “What do you mean by ‘also knightly’?”
Goodness, ‘knight’ is not just a profession’s name, but is it also an adjective?
Several wives exchanged looks and gossipingly asked, “Hey, doesn’t the duke act ‘knightly’ in private?”
Ellie Miller thought of Artor Coldcrest.
The man’s handsome face flashed through her mind, making her ears slightly warm.
But she quickly shook her head, chasing the man’s image out of her mind.
Little did she know, this led to a misunderstanding among the wives.
“Ah, I knew it, a man like the duke must be perfect…”
This wife was halfway through her sentence when the wife beside her nudged her.
She immediately turned pale, cautiously observing Ellie Miller’s reaction.
Ellie Miller: “…”
Helplessly accepting the ‘persona’ the original owner forced on her, she changed the topic, “So, what exactly does ‘knightly’ mean?”
A familiar voice replied, “Take my George, for instance.
I’d rather he remembers our wedding anniversary than bring me strange things every day.”
“Like whoever’s military flag he chopped off from the battlefield.”
Ellie Miller followed the voice.
A quirky little woman sitting alone in a corner, explained to Ellie Miller with a leisurely pace.
Ellie Miller remembered her, she seemed to be called “Lily,” the blunt-speaking wife who informed her about the knights drawing lots.
Of course, she also understood what the wives meant by “knightly”.
“I get it, what you mean is ‘straight man’~”
The wives, upon hearing an unfamiliar term, looked puzzled.
“Uh, it’s like those men who don’t understand a woman’s heart and often judge your likes based on their own opinions.”
A group of wives nodded like crazy, “Yes, yes!
That’s exactly it!”
“I wish my Locke would be like the male protagonist in an opera.”
“Don’t mention it, I tried to ‘cultivate’ my Hardy, the moment he comes back I drag him to see an opera, give him crazy hints, and what happened?
He made up excuses, pretending to be sick, preferring to drink with Lance and the others rather than accompany me to an opera!”
“Ah!
My Renard too!”
“Ah…
to speak of it, sometimes I even feel jealous of the men’s camaraderie.”
“I feel that Ponson’s relationship with Locke is even better than his with me.”
“Yes, yes, yes!
They even cover for each other!
I don’t let Vincent drink, but he always sneaks drinks behind my back, saying he’s off to find Locke.”
“When I go to ask Locke if they’ve been drinking, Locke tells me they’re playing Fernan Knight Ball.
Damn!
Unless they’re playing it in a wine barrel!”
Ellie Miller: “…” She, she was just trying to change the topic, why did the conversation take such a turn?
The wives couldn’t stop complaining about their husbands.
After being forced to listen for an hour, Ellie Miller felt an old urge creeping up.
Her, her inner fangirl for CP (couple pairing) actually started to itch.
“Speaking of which, I think Knight Locke and Knight Philip have the best relationship.”
Ellie Miller: Oh wow~ this Knight Locke sounds like quite the social butterfly, oh oh, note it down, note it down, must go see what he looks like next time.
“Nonsense!
Obviously, it’s him and Lance who are the closest!”
Ellie Miller: Oh wow~ she remembers Lance, isn’t he the famous Stallion in the Order of Knights~
Oh wow~~~ Stallion X Social Butterfly, slurp~ slurp~~~
As it turned out, she was so engrossed in shipping, she didn’t manage her expressions.
“Um, Lady, what are you laughing about?”
Ellie Miller was pulled back to reality, awkwardly reining in her auntie smile, and then saw a group of curious faces, and the urge to promote her inner passion grew stronger.
“Well…” she really couldn’t hold back anymore, “Ladies, have you ever heard of shipping CPs?”
A giant “?” slowly appeared above all the wives’ heads.